


Replacement

by TheAzureFox



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Angst, M/M, You're Welcome, also the ending is just me mentally dying inside
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 09:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13073817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAzureFox/pseuds/TheAzureFox
Summary: Sometimes, Shoichi wonders if he's not enough.(Hotdogshipping)





	Replacement

**Author's Note:**

> It has occurred to me that I have not yet written ShoichixYusaku and I aim to correct this.
> 
> Here u go.

Shoichi Kusanagi dreams of countryside cabins and grassy meadows, dreams of a younger brother in his likeness smiling and of two parents enclosing them in a hug. He thinks of dinners decorated with steaming yakitori, balls of rice and the occasional hotdog peppered in. The sun’s warmth filters in overhead and he basks in its glory, blades of grass tickling his cheeks as the shadow of a tree crawls over his legs.

And, then, he wakes up with his chin on the top of a table, a gray blanket scattered over his body as he slumps in his chair. Nine computer screens stare back at him, various windows scattered about as several thousand pages of unfinished code line the surface.

He sighs, collecting himself away from the sunny meadows that haunt his dreams. No longer would he taste sunshine with the innocence of his childhood. No longer would he fancy spending the days of his youth in the cabins of the countryside, no longer would he dare to imagine the future in which he and his brother were together forever.

A soft snore sounds from beside him and Shoichi flits his gaze over to that of his companion and closest ally, one Yusaku Fujiki. The boy is still deep in slumber, ignorant as to the gaze of his partner lingering on his face. Shoichi watches the face of incorruptibility, watches the face of someone who is lost to the pleasures of an alternate timeline, an alternate fate in which kidnappings of children did not occur and families were not separated. Shoichi wants to return to that world, to escape from the reality of the world before him and to disappear into another one entirely.

 _But_ , he thinks, _if I did that, would I never have met Yusaku?_

Such thoughts landed heavily on his heart. He was torn – torn between the world he idealized and the world in which he lived in. On one hand, he wanted the naïve sweetness of his childhood restored. On the other, he wanted to comfort the boy beside him, to hug him tight and never let go until the unshed tears in Yusaku’s eyes freed themselves and disappeared.

He wanted both, he wanted his brother and he wanted Yusaku but, while both did exist on the timeline he stood upon, both were not free from the burdens they bared. Jin was stuck hating the world and everyone in it, unable to even look his own brother in the eyes without the words “you’re a fake” scribbled across his lips. Yusaku fought everyday with teeth and nails to enact his revenge, the flame inside him burning until it consumed the entirety of his being. Yusaku was the closest thing Shoichi had left to family, was the closest thing he had left to fight for.

Still, that did not excuse the knowledge that Shoichi was but a mere substitute to Yusaku’s true family. While Shoichi knew where his remaining family lied (and cursed the heavens for stealing the soul of the boy who’d once known nothing but happiness) Yusaku’s was still left to the unknown. The boy didn’t speak about it much, didn’t speak of his parents left far behind or of the possible siblings that might have mourned his loss, but Shoichi can see it in his eyes. Yusaku is longing for the moment he can have everything restored to him, waiting for the moment where his time is returned to him and the hourglass starts back at zero.

In honor of the ones he lost (and in a selfish bid for his own sanity), Shoichi took it upon himself to tend to Yusaku. They were family now, he liked to proclaim to the boy who nestled in his arms after his nightmares sent him running to Shoichi’s side. They were the only ones left in the world who knew the despair of losing those closest to them, the very few who could speak of the horrors that they had faced.

However, no matter how hard he tried to word it, he knew the truth. He knew he was only a temporary replacement for Yusaku’s true family. That, at any moment, Yusaku’s parents would swoop down upon them with tears in their eyes and steal Yusaku away from him. He feared the moment a random by-stander laid eyes upon Yusaku, feared the moment they rushed up to him and held him close with the name “ _Son_ ” hot on their breath. He hoped such a day wouldn’t come, hoped he wouldn’t see Yusaku taken from him, but he knew better than to place his faith in hopes. Should such a day come, he knew he wouldn’t raise a hand against Yusaku’s leaving. Shoichi would not let himself live if his selfishness robbed Yusaku of the happiness he deserved. If Yusaku’s parents were to appear and call out to Yusaku, Shoichi would not stop the boy from leaving.

(Still, a part of him cries and cries over the knowledge that, one day, he will no longer be a part of Yusaku’s life. He tries not to let it haunt him, but he knows the truth outweighs his delusions and, in the end, he’ll have his brother at the cost of his closest ally).

Yusaku stirs and Shoichi’s gaze drifts to the computer screens, idly pretending to find a bit of code fascinating as the boy comes to. Such staring would not be permitted without questions and with the questions came answers that Shoichi would rather not acknowledge.

“Hey, you’re awake already?” Yusaku inquires, rubbing at his eyes as he comes to, a white blanket dipping off his shoulders.

“Yeah, for about a minute,” he says softly, a lying smile on lying lips, “Did I wake you?”

“No,” the groggy teenager stifles a yawn and, failing to, lets his chin rest atop the table in front of him. “I was dreaming again.”

“About home?”

There’s something akin to a chuckle in Yusaku’s response. “How did you know?”

First, the dazed look in Yusaku’s, the look that says he’s seen into another timeline, another realm of possibilities. Second, the glimmer in his eyes, the one that suggests he’s had a chance encounter with the wonderland of his dreams, the utopia of his homeland. Third, the barely-there-but-still-quite-visible smile on his lips, the one expression of happiness Yusaku allows himself in rare moments of bliss.

Instead, Shoichi answers with: “A simple guess.”

Yusaku huffs, leaning back and observing the computer screens before them. “Working on a program?”

“Looking over the code for one.”

“What’s the project this time?”

Shoichi gives his companion an exasperated look. “I’ll tell you when it’s finished. It won’t be much of a surprise if I told you otherwise.”

“Is it a present of some sort?”

“No, silly,” he leans back and grins, slipping an arm around Yusaku’s shoulders. “It’s a gift. For Playmaker.”

“Same diff,” Yusaku rolls his eyes, accepting Shoichi’s touch with a show of shoulders slumping in comfort. “But if it’s a secret, I guess I’ll wait until it’s done.”

“There you go,” Shoichi pats his head and Yusaku bats it away with a scowl. “I promise you’ll like it when it’s finished.”

“I have no doubts about that. Your programs are always useful.”

The man beams at such praise but such happiness dampers with the illusion that haunts his eyes. He sees the phantom of someone else hovering over Yusaku’s shoulder, sees long hair draping over the boy’s shoulders and hears the soothing words of grown adults speaking to their long-lost child. Shoichi imagines Yusaku nestling in their arms, imagines the boy finding comfort of someone else, and feels the heat of judging eyes fall upon his face, the words of “you’re not good enough for him” on protective lips.

“Hey,” Yusaku’s voice pulls him out of his trance, eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of concern and confusion. The boy leans forward. “Are you okay?”

Without warning, Shoichi pulls Yusaku to him, hugging him tight as he rests his chin on the boy’s shoulder. Yusaku reciprocates the hug, albeit with puzzled hesitance, arms resting around Shoichi’s waist. “…Hey, Shoichi?”

The use of his first name, a rare occurrence for Yusaku, has Shoichi’s face turning a bashful shade of pink. He buries his face in the boy’s shoulder, laughing to himself. “I’m fine,” he tells Yusaku. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Really, I’m fine.”

“You don’t _sound_ fine,” his companion says with a dubious intonation. “Are you…thinking about your brother again?”

 _Just the opposite,_ Shoichi thinks. “No, nothing like that. If anything, I’m worrying myself away over our futures.”

He pulls away and finds himself surprised to see Yusaku’s soft smile. The boy gives a huff, piercing green eyes seemingly figuring out his every lie.

“I won’t leave you,” the boy says, reaching out a hand to place atop Shoichi’s own. “Even if this whole thing comes to an end and everything is resolved, I won’t leave you so easily.”

The man sighs, ready to offer up his words of thanks when:

“Unless, of course, you leave me first.”

“ _Yusaku_.”

The boy merely gives him a smile of innocence. “Relax, I’m joking.” Yusaku yawns, turning back to their computer screens. “I know you would never leave my side.”

He says it with such faith that Shoichi can’t help but believe it. The man grins, nodding in gratitude as he turns to the computer screens.

 _As long as I can help it, Yusaku,_ Shoichi watches as the boy departs to grab a cup of coffee, _I will never leave your side_ …

~~~~

“Lies.”

Shoichi sits on a throne of destruction, watching as virtual bits and pieces float through his fingers. At his side is his brother, a silent and brooding mercenary who overlooks the world before them with cold, dead eyes.

Beneath them, bloodied but not willing to give up, Playmaker spits at his feet with the scars of betrayal stitched into the fabric of his skin.

“You said you wouldn’t leave me,” the boy says, his voice a cry of desperation mixed with disgust and despair. Shoichi tries not to wince. “You said you’d always be there for me. Were those all truly just-“

Shoichi cuts him off before he can say anymore, before Playmaker can tear the wretched beating heart from his chest and stab his knife into it any further than he already has. “ _Lies **?**_ Yes, Yusaku, they were.”

The hurt shining in emerald eyes makes Shoichi want to stumble off his roost and fly to the boy’s side, to cocoon him in his arms and take him away from the sorrows that feed upon Playmaker's body like maggots. Instead, Jin tilts his head, eyes holding back a vague warning, and then disappears from sight. Shoichi turns to follow but pauses as Playmaker speaks yet again.

“I _trusted_ you,” the boy speaks, lips curling. He looks halfway to crying and yet his voice carries the poison of the hatred buried deep into his veins.

Shoichi doesn’t turn around. He doesn’t slide down the throne he stands upon, doesn’t rush to greet the boy in his arms, doesn’t hug the boy and apologize a thousand times over. Instead, he stiffens, ignoring the urges that pound in his body to race after his brother.

 _I’m sorry, Yusaku,_ Shoichi clenches his hands into fists and feels the biting of nails into his skin with a hiss. _But I can’t be there for you anymore_.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry but I was obligated to write that ending after the angst in the first part. 
> 
> ...Plz don't kill me hotdogshippers


End file.
